


AC19 Day 6: Happiness Is Elf-Made

by The_Rose



Series: Rose's Advent Calendar 2019 [6]
Category: Warcraft - All Media Types, World of Warcraft
Genre: Angst, Buckle up we're going to Feel-adelphia, Drunk characters, F/M, Grief, Legion timeline, Pregnancy, Repressed Feelings, Requested fic, not quite explicit smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-06
Updated: 2019-12-06
Packaged: 2021-02-26 06:15:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,041
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21699088
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Rose/pseuds/The_Rose
Summary: Khadgar loves throwing little parties in Deliverance Point. Not only does it motivates the troops to keep fighting the Legion every day, but it also helps everyone to not fall into despair. Illidan hates them and usually never attends them but this time, he got tricked into joining.Little does he knows that one night will change his life.
Relationships: Maiev Shadowsong/Illidan Stormrage
Series: Rose's Advent Calendar 2019 [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1559185
Comments: 6
Kudos: 11





	AC19 Day 6: Happiness Is Elf-Made

**Author's Note:**

> This one fic had been requested by Bitchyphantom666 on Tumblr over a year ago but as usually, it took me quite some times to write it and I'm really sorry for the delay ^^'
> 
> I hope you'll enjoy it!

No matter how much Illidan was telling them it would end badly, they didn't listen to him.

Still, his Illidari along to Khadgar were doing everything they could to convince him to come to a little party they were hosting for a small victory on the Broken Shore. Illidan never saw the utility of such thing but Khadgar kept insisting that it was to keep their troops motivated and not get discouraged by the immensity of the Legion. Maybe it wasn't a too bad idea but Illidan was preferring planning the next attack than partying.

This was why he couldn't understand what he was currently doing there, a plastic cup in his hand, right next to the drinks. A group was playing music while a few people were dancing, the others were talking with one another while drinking. He had to recognize it was a nice little party but he was still not seeing the point. Instead, he just kept refilling his cup. Again, and again.

Illidan was getting bored as time passed. Drinking was fun but it was like no one dared to approach him. For once that he was making an effort to come, this was really annoying. Finally, he caught the sight of another night elf staying away from the crowd. A woman, not so bad looking and somewhat familiar. Deciding that he had nothing better to do, he went to her.

She raised an eyebrow at him as he approached but she didn't say anything. Illidan understood he had to introduce himself first if he wanted to engage the conversation.

“Hi, I'm Illidan. You probably heard of me.”

The elf almost choked on her laugh as Illidan tried to find what he did wrong.

“Yes, I did.” She answered sarcastically, her voice as familiar as her appearance.

The alcohol was slowly annihilating his ability to hold an interesting conversation and along to the fact that he would have sworn he knew that woman, Illidan just kept asking stupid questions.

“So, you’re helping us against the Legion?”

“Oh for Elune’s sake,” she whispered a hand on her face.

“I take that for a yes,” he stupidly smiled.

Instead of answering, the woman looked away with a concerned look as she began to whisper to herself, inaudible for Illidan. So many questions were marked on her face but Illidan didn’t care and instead, kept going with his plan.

“What’s your name, by the way?” he asked.

She opened her mouth but quickly closed it as she frowned. He asked way too genuinely for it to just be a mockery or something like that. He was clearly drunk and lost. Or maybe not but she couldn’t be sure right now.

“You’re kidding me, right?” she answered, anger rising in her voice. “Are you really that drunk or it is just a cruel game you’re trying to play with me?”

Illidan almost stepped backward as he looked confused and almost offended. He had no idea who this woman was but apparently, he should? But the more he was trying to remember her, the more he was lost. Never had he seen her before. But with a quick look at his now empty cup that he couldn’t remember how much he refilled it, maybe he was so drunk that the missing piece was hidden from him. He still decided to joke on it as he had no better choice.

“Well, to be honest, I might be a little drunk and not recognizing you,” he laughed a little while getting closer to her and, as she didn’t move away, he took it as a good thing. “So, care to enlighten me with your name?”

It was discreet but she desperately looked around for help but either no one had realized Illidan went to talk to her, or they were avoiding her sight. Like always, she had to do everything by herself but she got used to it.

“Illidan,” she said dryly. “Get lost. You’re too drunk for me to deal with that.”

With the way she talked to him, a brief image of a helmet he was hating appeared in front of his eyes but he quickly brushed it off.

“Good imitation of Maiev,” he laughed, almost doing finger guns towards her.

The woman facepalmed hard and groaned in her hands. Then, she took one big deep breath and raised her head, looking right into his eyes.

“I’m Maiev.”

Illidan laughed out loud, getting a few people to look at them and Maiev wondered why she accepted to come after all.

“No, no, no,” he laughed and pretended to get a tear off his eye. “I know Maiev, I know her well and you can’t be her.”

She barely had the time the reply to it that he was already lost in his explanation.

“First, she never leaves her armor,” he began, counting on his fingers. “Second, she hates being around people so she would never come to such party. Third, she doesn’t care about anyone here but her, one more reason for her to not be here. Fourth, if you were her, I wouldn’t even have the time to say something that my jaw would have been flying somewhere else. Five, you are way too pretty to be her.”

Her eye twitched. How dare he insult her like that while also complimenting her? If she had any doubt that he was drunk, she had any left.

“Illidan. I. Am. Maiev!”

He just kept laughing, insisting it couldn’t be true. She had no other choice but to prove it, but as she left her armor in her tent earlier, she had to hope that Khadgar would be enough.

“Khadgar!” she barked, getting his attention. “Come here.”

The Archmage quickly excused himself to those around him and quickly walked to the spot where Maiev and Illidan were.

“What is it Warden Shadowsong?” he asked, unaware of what was happening.

She just looked at Illidan with a told-you-so face as he slowly stopped laughing. Khadgar would never call anyone else like that unless she was indeed Maiev. As Maiev saw that Illidan finally understood, she dismissed Khadgar, pretending it was nothing and she looked at him leaving while eye-siding Illidan, clearly lost in his mind. It wasn’t until they were once again alone that he finally got something to say.

“But…But you’re ugly usually!” he said out loud.

Maiev’s cup crushed in her hand.

“You have three seconds to disappear from my sight!”

Instead of doing it, he grabbed her around the jaw and began to examine her face, his own face so close to her that she had a hard time refraining the blush taking over her. In his mind, Maiev had always been an ugly mix of a faceless night elf and of that damned armor, a monster more than anything. And suddenly, he was facing a quite pretty night elf that was her. It seemed impossible to him.

“It can’t be,” he was whispering, still holding her. “It must be an illusion or something, it can’t be real.”

“Illidan, take your hands off me and get lost,” she growled as her face was completely warm from her blush.

But as he had to make sure it wasn’t some kind of dream or nightmare, he took the worst decision he could at that moment, the alcohol not helping at all. Still holding her face, he brought her lips to his and kissed her. Maiev got tensed while she had a hard time processing what was happening. At least, the smell of alcohol confirmed to her that he was drunk and that it was probably nothing serious. Still, she got angry and threw a punch in his chest, making him break the kiss and fall on his knees. Behind him, she saw Khadgar, ready to intervene as he probably saw everything but wasn’t sure if he could do something. She quickly grabbed Illidan and forced him on his hooves while she used her shoulders to support him as he was groggy from his drunkenness and the punch. As she walked in front of Khadgar, she stopped for a second.

“I’m bringing him back to his tent before he tries to kiss someone else,” she explained in an exasperated tone.

Khadgar nodded and muttered a sorry as he had been the one to insist for both of them to come at this party. She shrugged it off and left to the tents zone of Deliverance Point. On her back, Illidan was muttering things that she couldn’t understand but didn’t care, all that she wanted right now, was to get him off her back and go to sleep. It had been way too much emotion for her in one evening. How dare he call her ugly when he was looking like that? How dare he touch her and be so close? How dare he kiss her, in front of everyone and without asking first? If she was listening to herself, she would have thrown him off a cliff instead of carrying him back to safety. But as she walked there, she got the hideous reminder of the feelings she had fought for millennia, and when she thought she was way past them, he was doing something so stupid that they were coming back. It was just one drunk kiss for Elune’s sake! Why would she want - hope for more?

Thankfully, she reached his tent and she entered it with the idea of just dropping him and leaving fast. The less time she would spend with him, the quicker she would get rid of those feelings taking over her. But as she tried to let him fall on the ground, he grabbed her and she fell with him and before she could get back on her feet and run, he was cuddling her.

“Stay,” he whispered, sadness all over his voice. “Stay with me, please.”

As much as she knew she would regret it later, she decided that just one night in his arms, even just to sleep, wasn’t going to be that bad. She had run away enough in her life to accept just that night. She stayed still until she felt him asleep and she turned around, cuddling him back.

Illidan wasn’t sure what happened last night. Everything was feeling like a dream and he wasn’t sure if his memories were exact or not but as he woke up with Maiev in his arms, and this time he had no doubts that it was her, he knew some of those memories were true. The only real doubt he had on his mind, was how the night had ended and he wasn’t sure whether or not he wanted to learn if he and Maiev had sex. But he barely had the time to wonder about it that she moved and she stretched out like a cat and slowly opened her eyes, welcomed by the sight of Illidan’s tattooed chest where her head was.

“Maiev,” Illidan began, not really knowing what to say or ask.

But as if she had read his mind, she answered.

“You were too drunk to even think about it. I just brought you back to your tent but you didn’t let me go, I had no other choice but to sleep here.”

It was quick, dry and emotionless. She couldn’t let him know how much she enjoyed just sleeping next to him, especially that she wasn’t expecting another night. She sat to get away from him, but not too far either.

“I’m sorry,” he said, looking away. “I kind of remember what I said last night and I shouldn’t have. I was drunk and couldn’t think clearly. It’ll never happen again.”

“Think of yourself as lucky, not a lot of men can call me ugly and live another day.”

“You aren’t,” he muttered in his hand, still not looking at her. “I just had a vivid memory from when you killed me and it had been haunting me since. But you’re way prettier than I remember.”

Maiev also looked away as she brought a hand to her face, feeling her scars under her fingers. She would have never used that word to describe herself, especially not now that millennia of fights had marked her forever. As a tear began to form in her eye, she decided she spent enough time there and got up, ready to leave.

“We are expected, don’t be late,” she simply said as she left the tent.

Once outside, she almost ran to her own as she only wanted to slap herself. When would those feelings for him die already? She had suffered enough from them but every single time she thought it was over, he was back and she would be reminded that she never really stopped loving him. She wished she had never met him when they were younger, before the War of the Ancient. If they hadn’t, if she had never seen who Illidan was before his transformation, she would have probably never fallen in love with him. But she did, she knew what was under this image he had been constructing since the War and she would never be able to fully hate him.

No matter how much she wanted to.

Hours passed and soon, the night was falling on Deliverance Point. This time, no party had been planned and quickly, all the adventurers who had spent all day fighting the Legion either left the place to reach Dalaran or went to sleep in the tent zone while the night team was taking its turn to attack the Legion. Illidan looked at them but stayed near the Command Center. Since the morning, he had no will to get back to sleep and even then, he knew his thoughts wouldn’t allow him to have a good night. He had no real idea about what was happening to him but for once, he couldn’t focus on the Legion. Since his return, he threw himself body and soul to the task of destroying the Legion as it was the only way he had to feel good, the ghosts of his past haunting him constantly since he put a hoof in the Twisting Nether. But since the morning, he could only remember how good it felt to sleep with Maiev and how calm he had been. Something he wasn’t believing possible at all. And now, Maiev was the one all over his thoughts, even if they weren’t coherent at all.

As he noticed she still hadn’t left for her tent, his steps led him to her before he could realize it and now, he was facing her, not knowing why he was there. She looked at him, her face hidden under the helmet he was hating so much but his spectral sight allowed him to see her raise an eyebrow as the silent question of what he was doing here, in front of her.

“I was just wondering…” he began before interrupting himself.

What was he wondering? What did he want? Why was he in front of her when he was sure she didn’t want to see him again after how he acted towards her the last night? But why would he want to be there with her? He probably didn’t give her the choice to stay with him so there was no way she would accept one more night. It was stupid and it would have been better for him to just leave now.

“What do you want?” she asked, softly, almost a whisper.

He had no words. No way to explain it. All he wanted, was to have someone near him. To stop being remembered of the Twisting Nether and of the awful memories attached to it. He didn’t want to be alone anymore. But he couldn’t voice it and as he panicked a little, all he could do, was to gently grab her wrist. She looked at his hand and then at him before doing the same, her hand closing on his own wrist. Slowly, she guided them to her tent this time. They crashed into each other, hugging like there was no tomorrow and they fell asleep like that, in each other’s arms, not doing anything for the night.

When they woke up, the next morning, they didn’t say anything. Illidan kept her in his arms as she snuggled her head in his neck. She had no idea why she ended up accepting the silent proposition but she was sure of one thing, she liked it and for a moment, wished that they would never part ways, that they wouldn’t have to get up and that the world would forget about them. Illidan was still wondering why it had to be Maiev, of all people, to bring him such peace but he stopped thinking about it to avoid the headache. All that mattered was that she wasn’t trying to kill him and that he was feeling good.

“We have to go,” she whispered in her neck.

They both knew it. The world was needing them and they couldn’t afford to stay in bed and disappearing forever. But it wasn’t meaning they had to stop.

“Tonight,” he began, his voice mimicking her with a whisper, almost begging. “Can I come back?”

Her hands clutched him. Was it really happening? Were they really wanting each other’s presence? Would it only work? A little voice in her head was telling her no, that he was a monster that would only end up hurting her, bringing her to her self-destruction. She should tell him right to leave and never come back, to not speak to her anymore and die alone. But at the same time, only Elune knew how much she had wanted it and even if it was a long time ago and that she thought she was over it, all of the walls she had built around her to keep her from making that particular mistake were falling down.

“Yes,” she finally said, accepting him in her life.

Weeks passed and every night, Illidan would join Maiev in her tent and they would just sleep together, enjoying each other’s presence. In the morning, Illidan would leave before anyone could see him and even if they weren’t really hiding it, they thought it was better like that. If someone had noticed that little game between them, they had decided to not say a thing and they would only be thankful. They actually had no idea what they would say or how they would explain it if someone brought it up. Instead, they were falling asleep together without any worries.

One night, Illidan’s lips found the skin of her neck while his hand caressed her cheek with his thumb. Her hands went to his chest, slowly going up until they rested on his jaw and that she forced him to face her. Only the sound of their heavy, anticipating breath would break the silence and they stood there, facing each other and being so close for what seemed an eternity as he finally went down and their lips met. There was no emergency and they just kept kissing, tasting each other. As they continued, they got rid of their clothes and they began to explore their bodies, moving the kisses on the skin. They weren’t talking and the only sound they were making came from their breath and finally, Illidan looked at her, silently asking if he could go further and as she pulled him for a kiss, he thrust in her. Kept in a tight embrace, they stayed silent but for the moans, and made love.

The next morning, they overslept but couldn’t care less.

Life slowly became better.

Illidan was becoming less fatalistic when he was thinking about the Legion’s invasion and started to appreciate the little parties Khadgar was throwing along to being more sympathetic to the adventurers when they came to get their orders. He also felt that everyone was nicer to him now that he was seeing his life differently. He still couldn’t believe that Maiev had been the solution and he would often get caught laughing under his breath when he was thinking about it.

As for Maiev, she was changing too. She was opening herself more to people and everyone noticed that the way she was talking to Illidan was different from the beginning of the Army of Legionfall. Oh, she was still insulting him when she could and was threatening him but she was doing it in a more playful tone, only to be met by Illidan’s own playful tone and promises to make it worth. Thankfully, they were able to keep their hands off each other when it was happening but it always ended in a laugh once they were alone.

They loved it.

“Maiev, I love you.”

She looked at him, almost dropping the fruit she was eating.

“Why saying it now?” she could only ask as her eyes went from him to the Tomb of Sargeras constantly.

“I never said it out loud yet and well, we don’t know what will happen today,” he explained as his eyes didn’t leave the Tomb.

It was the morning of the attack. Today, they would finally invade the building and put a stop to the flow of demons that those portals were throwing up. No one could tell how it would go and this is what was scaring Illidan the most. So, he took advantage that they got up early to prepare themselves to finally tell her that he was loving her. That he wasn’t just using her to not be alone.

She smiled and got up, walking towards him until she reached him and dropped herself against him. He immediately put his arm around her and they kept looking at the building looming in the horizon as her head was resting against him. She put her hand over his and their fingers intertwined.

“Thank you for telling me,” she finally said. “I love you too.”

“If you need me today, just tell me and I’ll fly as fast as I can.”

“Same for you,” she retorted with a smug. “It would be a shame that you of all people die today.”

“Unless you are my opponent, I’m pretty sure I will survive.”

She laughed a little. The events of the Black Temple seemed so far away and so many things had changed since. What would have happened if they had failed that day? What if she didn’t succeed to kill Illidan? Worst, what would have happened if she had spared his life? Would have they ended like that, some way or another? She quickly shrugged off those thoughts and put herself more comfortably against him. The past was the past and now, she only had to think about the future. Their future.

“I can’t wait for those portals to be closed and those fights to be over,” she said, breaking the silence.

She felt Illidan sighing out loud against her as he took a translucent green rock from one of his pockets and looked at it, concerns all over his face.

“I’m not sure it’ll be over,” he began to say. “We might close the portals and stop their invasion but it doesn’t mean they won’t come back sooner or later. Until we attack the Legion to its core and dismantle it with our own hands, they will always come back. No matter what we do. And one day, we won’t win.”

His hand clutched on the rock.

“They only need to win once.”

Feeling him becoming tense, Maiev quickly began to caress the arm holding her, trying to appease him as she could sense it was a really sensitive subject. And the worst was that he was right. If the Legion could win once, it would be over for them. While they needed to win every time. It was almost hopeless.

“You have a plan isn’t it?” she asked softly, her eyes on that rock.

“We should turn the tables over and be the one to invade. We should strike them in their home and destroy Argus.”

“And I guess this thing will help us?” she said, pointing at the rock.

“Yes. It can transport many things. We could teleport troops, ships, Fel, even an entire planet right to Argus in a blink. They wouldn’t know what’s happening to them.”

“You would seriously teleport Azeroth there?” She asked, outraged as she knew how dangerous it would be.

“No, no. I was thinking more about sending little troops to take down some infrastructures and then, sending a bigger one. Maybe one of those Draenei’s airship, if the one Velen is repairing is done. But the entire planet? I’m not even sure where Argus is.”

He chuckled at those last words. He almost succeeded to reach Argus so long ago but with his death, he lost all tracks of the planet. The fact that the Twisting Nether was constantly moving things around, planets included, hadn’t helped to find it where he first found it.

“But we don’t know, maybe I’ll do something stupid,” he said. “But for now, let’s just concentrate on the Tomb.”

She hummed for a yes and she contemplated the destroyed landscape in front of them.

“Dodge!” shouted Khadgar as the fireball went right above Illidan’s head, hitting the fel stalker who dropped dead on the ground.

The first floor of the Tomb was covered in dead demons and the sound of a raging battle coming from the stairs was telling the four commandants that they chose the adventurers well. While they were battling the line of defenses that the Legion put between them and the portals, the commandants were making sure that the demons weren’t attacking the adventurers by behind, being their own line of defense.

At some point, the sound of the battle against the Maiden stopped and an uncomfortable silence rose from the stairs until the sound of a mechanical elevator was heard. They had no idea what was the meaning of it but they kept fighting the demons coming towards them. A few minutes after the end of the battle, they heard the sound of steps in the stairs and they turned around. A young druid emerged from the staircase and quickly switched from his cat form to his night elf one. He was looking exhausted and had a hard time standing on his feet.

“Kil’jeaden!” he succeeded to say between two breaths. “He’s here. Reanimating the Avatar. Came to warn, as fast as I could.”

Both Illidan and Velen stood upright as they heard that name and their hands were shaking. There had been rumors that Kil’jeaden was behind everything that was happening in the Tomb but they never had the confirmation until that exact moment. They could finally take him down and have their revenge.

Maiev was the fastest to react and after throwing a knife into the heart of an imp, stopping its attack, she turned to the three others.

“Go! I’ll take care of the demons here,” she shouted.

“Are you sure?” shouted back Illidan, looking at all the demons still alive in the room and maybe more in the building. “I’ll stay with you.”

“No, you and Velen need to take down Kil’jeaden. The adventurers will need your help,” she explained. “And Khadgar has to go with you in case you need to leave fast. Don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine.”

They looked at each other. Illidan clearly didn’t want to leave her alone but her eyes insisted that he just keep going and that she would survive.

“Illidan, we don’t have the time. If we don’t want Kil’jaeden to escape, we need to go now!” Urged Velen.

Reluctantly, Illidan stepped backward and took one last look at Maiev, who was taking advantage that she was wearing her helmet and that only his spectral sight could show him her face, to smile at him. He turned around, grabbed the two other men by their waist and spread his wings, taking off.

“It’ll be faster,” he said as they disappeared into the stairs, the druid already back on his feet and following them.

Maiev watched them until they were out of her sight and she turned around to face the demons. Her cloak whipped as she showed them all the blades she was carrying and she smiled. She wasn’t going to let them win.

The ship was slowly but surely falling towards the homeworld of the Legion and Khadgar was desperately trying to activate his teleporting spell to bring everyone back to safety but every time, the spell would fade before touching even one person.

“We’re too far from Azeroth! I can’t teleport us.”

Illidan looked at the planet under them. After all this time, he finally found it again and for a moment, he went back to the Black Temple, where his plan to invade the home of the Legion wasn’t that farfetched. They were so close he felt that he would only have to reach his hand to touch the planet. He smiled at that thought and felt the Sargerite Key burning in his pocket. It was now or never. He knew it.

“At least, we will have died fighting,” said Khadgar, resigned to his fate.

“Our war isn’t over yet,” Illidan only replied as he took out the rock. “Not while we hold the key to all worlds.”

The rock began to shine and float as Illidan activated it and soon, it flew off to the immensity of space and exploded, creating a gigantic portal showing them Azeroth. Their way home and, unknowingly from the Archmage, the way to the end of the Legion.

“Khadgar, take us home!”

The mage nodded and began to cast his spell of teleportation, getting the adventurers out first while Illidan kept looking at the planet. His conversation with Maiev from the morning came back to him and he laughed discreetly. He said he wouldn’t bring Azeroth to Argus, he never said he wouldn’t bring Argus to Azeroth. But his laugh quickly stopped when he remembered that they left her alone battling hundreds of demons and that he had no way to know if she was alright. If she was alive.

“Everyone! Get ready!” shouted Khadgar.

Illidan felt himself surrounded by the arcane of the transportation spell and discreetly, he redirected it to the Sargerite Key to be sure that the planet would follow them and then, let the spell works on him. He, and all the others, disappeared in a violet beam.

They reached Azsuna and Illidan quickly searched after Argus, knowing he couldn’t have messed up the spell and finally saw it. It was probably the most dangerous thing he never did but he couldn’t care less. It was for the greater good. Once the Legion dismantled, nothing would threaten them again.

“Is everyone alright?” asked Khadgar, the last one to land on Azsuna.

But as he saw Velen and Illidan looking at the sky, he turned around and realized with horror what happened. But he only had to see the way Illidan was refraining his victorious smile to know who the culprit was.

“What have you done?” he shouted to Illidan, perfectly knowing how dangerous it was to be next to the home of the Legion.

“Sometimes, the hand of fate must be forced,” he answered all philosophical as even this morning he couldn’t have foreseen that the fight would have brought them on Argus directly, allowing him to teleport the planet.

Khadgar only groaned and rubbed his face. He, who was hoping to be able to rest after they stopped the invasion of the Legion. He sighed out loud but didn’t add anything and instead, already thought of the next plan and what he would say to the adventurers, and the High King and Warchief. They surely wouldn’t like the news.

“Well, I have something really important to do,” said Illidan, already taking off. “See you later.”

Before Khadgar or Velen would say anything, Illidan flew away and dashed towards the Tomb. Maiev’s fate was uncertain and there was no way he would wait to know what happened. He threw himself into the building and soon, the sound of his hooves against the hard floor echoed through the empty room. He quickly joined the main room where most of their fight happened and all he could see was dead demons all over the floor but no trace of Maiev. Some of her knives were scattered all around and he began to search in all of the building, shouting her name desperately, but she was nowhere to be seen.

With one last hope, he made his way back to Deliverance Point.

The little party was going great and all the adventurers were trying to celebrate the end of Kil’jaeden and forget about the fact that Argus was now looming into the sky above them. They knew they wouldn’t even have a day of rest and that they would need to start the attack as soon as possible. Some whispers spread were telling that Velen would have a spaceship ready by the end of the week.

When Illidan finally stepped in, everyone shut up and looked at him. Of course, they already knew who was responsible for such things as Khadgar and Velen quickly explained themselves, not wanting to deal with angry adventurers. The first slow and sarcastic clap began, quickly followed by hundreds of it. No matter how worried he was about Maiev, Illidan decided to show them he had no regrets and welcomed the applause, even if no one was congratulating him for his decision.

But quickly, a metallic clap caught his attention and when he turned his head around, he saw her. Maiev had joined the humiliating congratulation and she was standing a little away from everyone else, wearing her armor but for her helmet. She was softly smiling and looked extremely tired. He couldn’t care less that she was mocking him and immediately went to her, ready to take her in his arms and hugged her to death but he barely got in front of her, arms already opened, that she stopped him with her hand and then, without a word, pointed to Argus as she raised an eyebrow.

“I think you owe me an explanation,” she finally said.

“Can it wait?” he asked in a whisper. “I don’t think here it’s the best place.”

“Alright, let’s leave then.”

While everyone else began to forget about Illidan and Argus and went back to drink and enjoy the party, Illidan and Maiev quickly left without anyone noticing it. They reached her tent and Illidan was already hugging her, his hands over the ties of her armor and they only got the time to enter the tent that the first piece fell. His lips found hers and they kissed passionately as Maiev helped him to get rid of her armor. They fell on the ground and Illidan kissed her with more fervor, almost desperately.

“I was so scared,” he whispered. “I was already seeing myself finding your dead body in the Tomb. I shouldn’t have let you alone.”

“I will need more than a few demons to die,” she tried to laugh. “The demon who will kill me isn’t born yet.”

“Please,” he begged. “I don’t want to lose you. I love you.”

“You won’t lose me, I promise you.”

The rest of their clothes got thrown away as they became one, filling the silence of the night with their moans and love words.

“I will probably not come on Argus with you all,” said Maiev.

Illidan’s hands grasped hers as they looked at each other, laying down, face to face in her tent. The morning had come faster than they wanted and they were trying to drag on the night as much as they could but things had to be said.

“I just don’t feel it,” she explained. “And anyway, the demons are still proliferating all over the Shore. If we want to attack Argus without fearing a stab in the back, we have to get rid of them. With my Wardens, we’ll clean the Shore and make sure you can take down the Legion without interference from Azeroth.”

“I’ll come back every day, just to be with you.”

“Win and you won’t need to make such promises,” she smiled at him.

“I’ll do, for us.”

Their lips met until they had no other choices but to get up and leave the tent.

The blade sliced the felguard’s throat open and the body fell lifeless on the ground.

“Nice catch,” said Sira as Maiev proudly put her crescent away. “I didn’t see it coming.”

“Drelanim, how’s the cleaning of this zone going?” Maiev asked, trying to hide her heavy breathing.

“We just need to do this cave and we’ll be done,” answered the Warden.

“Good. Go first, I’ll check the outside to be sure no demons try to outflank us,” added Maiev.

The Wardens nodded and entered the cave as Maiev moved to be out of their sight and leaned against a rock, feeling more tired than usual. Her hands were shaking and she could only rely on thousands of years using her blades to not miss her targets. She was feeling dizzy but there was no way she would show to her Wardens that she was weak. Above her, Argus was still looming and she looked at it, wondering if everything was going fine for their troops up there. Weeks had passed and it was like those fight would see no end. She could only hope they knew what they were doing. All that she could do was to protect Azeroth of the threats from within and even that, she wouldn’t have been able to do it alone as it seemed that her body had a hard time following her.

She sighed out loud and closed her eyes for a second, counting to five before getting up and joining the Wardens in their cleansing activity.

“Maiev! Maiev!”

She opened back her eyes and almost jumped back on her feet but a hand kept her sitting on the ground. All around her, her Wardens were looking at her and the few who got their helmet off seemed so worried.

“What?” she tried to bark, acting as if nothing was wrong but only a whisper got out of her mouth.

“It’s been around thirty minutes since you commanded to clean the cave,” explained Sira, crouching next to her with a comforting hand on her shoulder. “We waited for you but you never joined us and we found you unconscious here. Are you alright?”

“I am, it’s nothing. I’m just a little tired,” she said, trying to sound irritated.

“Is it because of Illidan?” asked Marin.

“What I do of my nights are not your concern,” growled Maiev.

The Wardens shared a look at those words. Even if it had never been admitted out loud, they knew there was something between their leader and the Betrayer. But they would have preferred Maiev not alluding to her nocturnal activities with him.

“We’re done for today, we should go back to Deliverance Point,” told Sira to everyone, taking the lead as Maiev was clearly not feeling good.

They all agreed with her but when they tried to help Maiev back on her feet, she pushed away their hands and muttered that she could do it herself. As a demonstration, she got up and look defiantly at them, even if her helmet was hiding how hard it was for her to stay up. She only moved her head in a way that was telling them they were leaving and even if they were really worried, they had no other choice but to listen to her. Sira, not trusting Maiev out of her sight, decided to stay behind her.

As they walked away, Maiev slowed down and brought her hands over her throat as a really unpleasant feeling took over her body. She stopped and tried to breathe slowly, calming her digestive system but soon, she felt it was useless. She ripped off her helmet in a second and got on all four, throwing up her mere breakfast. Sira barely had the time to react but she quickly got next to her and got her hair out of the way. Alerted by the sound, all the Wardens turned around and joined them.

“Change of plan,” Sira said, looking sadly at Maiev. “We need to go to Dalaran and bring her to the infirmary.”

Maiev wasn’t understanding what was happening to her. Why would she be sick so suddenly? She kept looking at what she threw up and she would have sworn she saw green highlights flashing in it but she didn’t get the time to study it that she felt hands on her carrying her. She tried to fight them and leave on her own but she was too weak and she had no other choice but to accept her fate.

She was laying on a bed, looking at the roof and wondering what would be the final word on her health. Around her, healers were whispering between them while sharing their observations on her case. She had told them everything she was aware of that sickness and then, they proceeded to use their own magic to examine her body. She went through the light, nature and the water and since, they were speaking between them. She could only hope it wasn’t anything serious.

But at the same time, she was painfully aware that she wasn’t immortal anymore. She saw so many night elves dying from age or diseases that would have never got them when Nordrassil was still their protector. Maybe it was just her time that was coming to an end.

“Congratulations Warden Shadowsong,” finally said the priest as they went around the bed.

“You should say that to the sickness,” she sarcastically retorted. “I can’t even remember the last time I was sick.”

“You aren’t sick,” intervened the shaman. “Well, technically yes but this is only side effects.”

“I might be feeling weak but I won’t hesitate to stab you all if you don’t tell me what I have,” growled Maiev, irritated.

“You are pregnant,” finally said the priest.

She was ready to say something when her mind finally registered what they had just say. Her hand instinctively reached her belly as the word echoed through her mind until it lost all meaning.

“How?! I mean – Am I not too old? Is it only possible?” she began to ask, panicking.

“Well, it’s hard to tell as we don’t really have data on such pregnancy since the battle of Mount Hyjal,” began the druid. “We only have data over young - barely a hundred years – mothers. As far as we know, no night elves who could have lived through the War of the Ancient had attempted to have a child in those last years.”

“I didn’t really try to be pregnant you know,” sarcastically replied Maiev. “I didn’t even know it was possible.”

“We cannot predict how this will happen,” added the priest. “We can only give you two choices. Or you carry the pregnancy at its term and we see how it goes, or it’s early enough to remove it if you feel that you won’t be able to go to term.”

Maiev frowned as she looked at the roof. She rarely heard healers proposing the removal of a fetus before, unless it was being a danger for the mother carrying it. Was she in danger? After all, she did black out earlier that day.

“Do you think it’s best to remove it?” she asked, sadness tainting her voice.

“You admitted yourself to be old and I can affirm that you are even way older than all three of us combined. You never got through a pregnancy yet and from what we gathered from your Wardens, even the father isn’t really…usual?”

“Yes,” she cut him out, groaning.

“You could perfectly live that pregnancy without even being bothered, or the baby might not even come to term. We really can’t tell.”

“And for my reactions earlier? When I fainted and threw up?”

“You don’t have to worry about it, those were normal reactions. The baby is already taking a good part of your energy so you simply need to go back to a simpler life. Eating more, way more than you usually do as you are two now, sleeping more and doing less of your Warden’s duty, training included, to not take all of your energy. And the rest was just morning sickness, it will probably happen again a few times until the end of the pregnancy.”

“So…I don’t have to worry about it?” inquired Maiev.

“Technically no. But it would be a good idea to keep an eye on your, and the baby, health all through the pregnancy. If you keep it.”

Maiev sighed and closed her eyes, thinking about it. She never thought she could, or would be, pregnant one day. It was a dream she abandoned when she became Illidan’s jailor and now, it was coming back to hit her right in the guts. Just the simple fact that she was pregnant was already a miracle and she couldn’t stop wondering whether it was a risk she was willing to take or no.

“Do I have to take that decision right now?” she asked as she opened back her eyes.

“Of course not, you have all the time to think about it,” replied the shaman.

“Well, I’ll give my answer later,” Maiev decided. “Let my Wardens in, I need to talk to them.”

The druid nodded and went to the door, calling the Wardens who were waiting outside in hope of good news. Sira went first and sighed of relief as Maiev was still conscious and was just looking perplexed at the roof above her. She got closer, her helmet thrown under her arm and took a deep breath.

“I won’t die,” interrupted Maiev before Sira could say anything. “But I’ll tell you later. First, I need you to bring him here.”

Sira wasn’t needing to ask who the “him” was as she knew. It was a matter between them and she accepted it. She slightly bowed her head, signaling she knew what she has to do, and left the room while the others kept looking at Maiev, exchanging looks as they knew she wouldn’t tell them either.

Maiev sighed again, thinking about her future as she softly caressed her belly. All that she needed now, was to know what Illidan was thinking about it.

Illidan stepped in the room, doing his best to not run or look in a hurry but when Sira, who was following him, joined him practically out of breath, it was obvious how fast he traveled to Dalaran from the Broken Shore. As he almost slammed the door out of his way, everyone in the room jumped back on their feet, but Maiev, and tried to grab a weapon that wasn’t within reach. Seeing the effect he made, Illidan awkwardly coughed, ready to tell something but Maiev was faster.

“Everyone out!” she commanded, showing the door to not only her Wardens but also the healers who stayed all along in the room.

Only Illidan was left in the room and he slowly approached Maiev, being as careful as he would be approaching a wounded wild animal. He heard her groaning as she noticed it too and he repressed a smile, mostly because he still had no idea why she would be in Dalaran’s infirmary.

“Sira told me you fainted today and that it was why you were brought here,” he said, taking her hand once in reach. “But she couldn’t tell me if it was serious or not.”

Maiev took a really deep breath. Saying those words out loud to him in particular was harder than she thought.

“I wonder when we’ll stop surprising me,” she began. “For months now, we went from surprise to surprise and even if I really wanted to smash your face against the ground at that party that other night, I would have never expected us to go this far.”

Illidan’s hands clutched on hers as he didn’t like how she was dragging her explanation.

“I’m sorry, this is hard to say, mostly because I cannot believe it myself but…” she kept going. “It happens that I am pregnant.”

Silence fell as Illidan slowly processed those last words.

“What?!” was his only answer.

“Three healers inspected me. Three different magic went through my body. And they all three agreed on it. As impossible as it sounds, I am pregnant.”

Illidan’s face began to switch between smiling and frowning. Like Maiev, the War of the Ancient and its consequences led him to give up and dreams and ideas and ever since he became a night elf/demon hybrid, he was certain some things could never happen to him. Having a biological child included. And here they were, Maiev pregnant with his child. All that he wanted, was to finish this war against the Legion and then spend as much time as he could with Maiev before death would pick him once again. But now that there was a child in the equation, it was changing so much. Overwhelmed by his feelings, he slowly got down to meet her face and softly kissed her. Kiss that she had to break.

“But,” she began. “There’s a “but”.”

She felt his weight over her, almost as if he was letting himself falling on her, probably already desperate to that news she still has to tell.

“We don’t know if the baby would be able to live through all the pregnancy.”

She felt his hands trying to not crush hers.

“We are old, we don’t know how it’s going to affect them,” she began to explain. “And your demonic nature might affect them as well. So, we have to choose if we try to keep them and see how it goes, or if we’re taking the safest road and that we interrupt the pregnancy now.”

Illidan stayed silent. Thinking about that new information and wondering why does fate was so awful with him. In all people to fall in love with, it ended up being Maiev but it was good because she was loving him too. And now that they could have a child, they might not even have them because there was a risk. He felt like laughing like crazy and insulting fate.

“My first answer, the one coming from the deepest of my rotten heart, would be to keep them,” he began, raising his head to look at her. “But if you don’t think it’ll be safe, then I believe we’ll have to make that choice.”

“I don’t know, that’s the problem,” she began, her eyes getting teary. “I’ve been thinking about it since they announced it and some part of me hopes that as our child, they’ll make it. But I’m still afraid they won’t and that we will suffer for nothing.”

His thumbs softly brushed away the tears streaming down her cheeks while she tried to calm her breathing. The situation was upsetting her so much and no matter what she would choose, she knew that it would never be the right decision.

“I want that child,” she whispered, her hands clutching over her belly.

One of his hands reached hers on her stomach and caressed it.

“Let’s do it then,” he whispered back. “Let’s bring this child to the world. We can do it.”

She took him in her arms and they stayed embraced for what seemed an eternity to them but they couldn’t care less.

Looking through the windows of the Vindicaar, Illidan couldn’t stop himself from sighing as he saw Antorus once again. In his arms, Maiev was resting against him, eyes closed as she was letting him lull her. Argus wasn’t the best place to be for Maiev but she still decided to join Illidan on the ship so they would be together and watch over her. She wasn’t fighting and she also asked Sira to take the lead of the Wardens until the end of her pregnancy as now, the only thing that mattered was to have good health for the baby she was carrying. Illidan was still commanding the troops on Argus as he had been the one to come with that plan but as soon as he wasn’t needed anymore, he was spending all his time with Maiev. No one but the Wardens knew about the pregnancy and it was better like that. Of course, they were wondering why Maiev ended up coming to the Vindicaar in the end, but as her relationship with Illidan had never really been a secret, it didn’t bother that much.

“We’ll attack Antorus soon,” finally spoke Illidan, still looking through the windows. “And I know it will sound weird but…I want you to be with us that day.”

Maiev opened back her eyes and frowned. She heard Illidan say really stupid things since she knew him but she thought that one sentence, in particular, was taking the palm. Why would he bring her to the most dangerous place of all when they agreed on keeping her safe?

“What?” she simply asked, pretending to be half-asleep with the hope of not dealing with stupidity.

“I know you think I either lost my mind or that I’m awfully stupid,” he chuckled before getting back a more serious tone. “But I’m serious. I want you to be with me so I can keep you safe. I have no doubt you could defend yourself but this is the Legion we’re attacking. Maybe that while we will assault their headquarters, they will try to bypass us and attack the rest of our forces here. I just want to be sure you are alive and well all through the attack. I don’t want to relive those same feelings from after the Tomb, I don’t want to run back to you without knowing if you’re alive or not.”

“Start by that the next time,” she smiled. “So, I won’t have to insult you in my head.”

He hugged her harder and agreed with her. Little she knew that he had another reason for her to be with him. Before learning she was pregnant, he had plans that he wasn’t quite sure how to execute but he knew he would probably not come back from their attack on Antorus. For weeks, he had been preparing his speech to tell Maiev and wishing her a better life than he could never offer her but now that everything changed, he couldn’t leave her alone. The only problem was that his idea was ingrained so deep into his mind that he could probably try to leave one way or another. But if Maiev was there with him, reminding him that the future wasn’t as gloomy as he first thought, then he would stay. For her and their child.

“Let’s take down the Legion and concentrate on better things,” she said in a whisper, fatigue taking her.

“We must gather our strength,” said Aman’thul as the others Titans were already preparing themselves to take down Sargeras. “Return home, children of Azeroth!”

Velen was already activating the beacon while the Vindicaar finally joined them, ready to get them and return to Azeroth but Illidan stayed immobile, looking at the Pantheon and realizing that his untold plan could happen right now. Everything, every choice he made in his life led him to that moment and if he wanted, he could stay there and face Sargeras once again, this time making him pay for everything. All he had to do was to not move and let the others leave without him.

A hand sliding in his brought him back to reality. On his side, Maiev was there, feeling that something was wrong so she grabbed his hand to make him move and he smiled at her. He intertwined his fingers with hers and followed her as they walked towards the beacon. The Titans could take care of Sargeras, it wasn’t necessarily his fate and anyway, he had a family waiting for him now.

Maiev woke up in sweat and quickly slid out of the bed. Illidan instinctively groaned but stayed deep asleep, only turning his back to her. It was better like that; she didn’t like being seen like that. Almost out of breath and with a blurry vision, she made her way to the bathroom, holding herself on the walls as she was stumbling as every step. When she finally reached the room, she allowed her body to throw up again and she stood over it, fighting back the tears. She couldn’t understand why it was happening to her. She had seen the healer on that very day and the medical examination was formal: the baby was developing correcting and didn’t show any sign of bad health. As for her, she only needed a little more rest and eating more. But it was the third time in the week that she had to wake up and crawl to the bathroom in the middle of the night just to throw up. And she would have sworn green highlights were taunting her since the very first day but it was like it was only her imagination as no one saw them when she brought the topic and even the healers were telling her she was fine.

She sat down and waited for the dizziness to fade, caressing her belly in the meantime. It was becoming obvious she was pregnant and if it wasn’t for the way she was feeling at that moment, she would have probably been the happiest person on the planet. Illidan was there with her, helping as much as he could and loving her and technically, their child would be able to see the light of the day. Nothing could go wrong. But she couldn’t stop herself to wonder why she had to feel like she would die almost every night.

Feeling a little better, she got up and crawled back to her room. Once there, she went back to Illidan and hugged him. Even if he was sleeping, he turned around and took her in his arms and Maiev felt safe.

“I was thinking…” she said one morning. “If the baby is a boy, I want to call him Khalari.”

Illidan raised an eyebrow and sat back on the chair.

“Any reason in particular for it?”

“I just like that name.”

“And if this is a girl?” he playfully asked.

“I still haven’t decided but I feel it’ll be a boy. Put it on the maternal instinct,” she smiled.

“Alright, in that case, I get to choose the name if it’s a girl.”

“I agree,” said Maiev. “So, what would it be in that case?”

Illidan crossed his arms and leaned back, looking at the roof as he thought of all the names he could give to his little girl.

“I don’t know yet but I’ll have one.”

“Don’t search too far, it’ll be Khalari,” she smirked as Illidan looked offended.

“Bet taken then.”

The pain took her by surprise. Her crescent dropped on the ground as she brought a hand around her heart as she felt it was going to explode. Her breathing became heavy and the dizziness took over her so fast that she fell on the grass and lost her consciousness for a few seconds before waking up in a jump, gasping for air and the pain disappearing as fast as it came. Illidan wasn’t there to help her as he had left to grab some groceries. Slowly, she moved to sit on the ground and threw a deadly glare at her crescent laying on the ground. Apparently, she couldn’t even afford to do some daily exercises to keep her in form for when she would go back to her Wardens. As much as it was annoying her, she had to take the decision to not do anything physical until the birth of the child. It was the only explanation she had for what just happened to her. As she went back inside their house, she avoided all mirror to not see how pale she was along to the green highlights tainting her eyes.

Illidan’s lips found her neck and she moaned under his touch. His body moved to be above her as his lips traveled up her neck to reach her lips and he kissed her, softly at first and then, as they were both craving it, they became more passionate and kissed for only Elune knew how long. Slowly, his hands moved around her clothes and he began to undress her.

“What’s taken you?” she asked. “It’s been months we didn’t have sex.”

“Well, we know that it’s only a matter of days before the child arrives,” he explained. “We better enjoy some time together before it’s going to be hard.”

She laughed at how right Illidan was. At the exact moment they would become three, they would probably don’t have the time for such pleasure before weeks if not months, and as Illidan had been really scared that doing anything like that could have been a problem during the pregnancy, they had refrained themselves from any sexual activities until they knew it would be safe. They kissed some more, Illidan still slowly undressing her, until she realized breathing was becoming hard, but not from the anticipation. She was really having a hard time to breathe correctly and once again; dizziness began to take over her.

“Wait Illidan…” she interrupted him and he looked at her, worried. “I’m…I’m feeling really tired actually. I don’t think I’ll go past the foreplay.”

“Understood,” he whispered as he moved back to his place on the bed.

He took her back in his arms and kept kissing her. She fell asleep knowing he was there and loving her.

It was the middle of the night when it happened.

She woke up in sweat but she knew it wasn’t like all the other time and that she was only needing to throw up. This time, she felt the waters breaks. Feeling her strength leaving her, she quickly grabbed Illidan’s arms to wake him up.

“What?!” he said out loud, still half-sleep but feeling the emergency in the way she was holding him.

“I’m going to give birth,” she answered, only a whisper.

Like an electroshock, Illidan jumped out of the bed, completely awake now and immediately noticed how weak and awful was Maiev was looking.

“I’m going to go get a healer!” announced Illidan, jumping in his pants. “I heard Velen was in the city. If I can, I’ll bring him.”

“Be fast,” she could only whisper. “I’m really not feeling well.”

Before leaving, Illidan quickly squeezed her hand and kissed it. He didn’t even bother to use the front door and jumped out of the windows of their room, his wings spreading as he took flight. He reached the Violet Citadel in record time and grabbed the first guard passing by.

“Is the Prophet Velen still here?” he urged, trying to not shake them like a rag doll.

“I’m here,” he heard coming from behind as a familiar sound of hooves against the floor caught his ears. “What is it?”

The prophet was looking in a hurry and Illidan began to shake so heavily that the guard finally fell back on the ground as Illidan couldn’t hold anything anymore.

“It’s Maiev,” he said, the words almost blocking in his throat.

Velen knew she would give birth soon and he had no problem imagining why Illidan seemed so desperate so suddenly. Especially that the Draenei had been waking up, not by a vision of the future, but by a feeling that something wrong was happening and that he was needed. The reason why he went to search for the reason for these feelings. And he didn’t like it in the slightest.

“There’s a problem with the child?”

“I think,” Illidan answered, his voice shaking. “She just lost the waters and she told me she wasn’t feeling well and she does look really bad.”

“What are we waiting for? Let’s go!” urged Velen.

Illidan only nodded and he began to guide him to the little house he and Maiev were using. Using a spell, he unlocked the door and they ran through the stairs to reach the room where Illidan left Maiev. He slammed the door on his way and met with Maiev, still laying on the bed, her breathing really slow, her face seemingly in pain and the sheets soaked. Illidan immediately went on the bed to hold her hands and whisper encouraging words to her but Velen stayed under the door frame, his affinity with the Light allowing him to realize the extent of the catastrophe. He closed his eyes, made a fast prayer to the Light and finally reached them. He put a hand over her forehead and took her wrist with his other hand and got the confirmation of what he had seen with the Light.

Maiev wouldn’t survive the night.

“Illidan, Maiev,” he began, grabbing their attention. “I’m really sorry but Maiev, you won’t make it. The Light already left you.”

Only a whimper coming from her answered him as a single tear rolled down her cheek. On the other side, Illidan’s wings dropped on his back and his hand on the mattress was already tearing it apart. His whispering of countless no became inaudible.

“Maiev, dear,” continued Velen. “You need to make a choice, either you take the baby with you and you both die, either you have to use your last strength to push him out.”

She barely succeeded in a nod and she began to push, being so weak that she couldn’t even shout or let any sounds out. Velen immediately moved in front of her, waiting to see the child appearing between her legs while Illidan looked at them, helpless. But as he saw Maiev moving less and less, he threw himself next to her and gently took her face between his hands, bringing his own next to her.

“Stay,” his voice cried. “Stay with me, please.”

“The head is already out,” Velen announced.

Maiev looked one last time at Illidan and her lips spelled a silent “I love you”. Then, her eyes closed and all of her body fell back on the bed.

“Almost there,” said Velen, still concentrated on the baby. “I will need to pull him out.”

Time lost all meaning for Illidan as he watched Maiev not reacting anymore and only the sound of a baby crying succeeded to make him turn his head towards the source of the sound. Velen was holding it, Illidan and Maiev’s child, a baby seemingly full of life and a child Maiev wouldn’t even see once as she died right before he was completely out.

“It’s a boy,” told Velen, not an ounce of joy in his voice as he saw Maiev’s body hanging lifeless on the bed.

“Maiev…You were right,” whispered Illidan, talking to her body as he was refusing to accept her death. “It’s Khalari, he’s here…Maiev, talk to me, please…Maiev!”

Velen made a few steps back, using a little cloth to wash the baby’s face. He was still crying, taking his first breaths and Velen almost got surprised at how good-looking the child was, compared to his mother who just died. He didn’t seem to be underweight; his skin had a vibrant rosy color; little clumps of dark blue hair were covering the top of his skull, and two big wings were covering him like a blanket. As he passed his hand over the forehead, he felt two small bumps, probably were horns would grow. Slowly, the child opened his eyes and green highlights made the place to two big golden eyes. And with those last attributes, Velen began to understand why Maiev didn’t make it but her child did. With a quick hand passage over her body, now that he knew what to search, he hadn’t any doubt anymore on what happened.

“Illidan,” he whispered as the demon had become silent, holding one of Maiev’s hand between his own rights in front of his forehead, his body shaking as he was unable to produce tears anymore. “We couldn’t have done anything…It’s the Fel that killed her. It destroyed her from the inside to feed the baby.”

Illidan finally let go of her hand but looked right in front of him, his gaze empty.

“It happened because I’m a demon…” he muttered between his teeth, to ensure that Velen wouldn’t hear him. “I killed her…”

He took a deep breath and finally got out of the bed, standing but still looking at Maiev.

“Velen, could you please get out for a minute?” he asked in a whisper.

“Yes, of course,” answered the Draenei as he went to the door, still holding Khalari in his arms.

As soon as the Prophet had stepped out of the room and closed the door, he heard the first furniture crashing on the floor followed by a scream of despair. The first of a very long night.

Jarod was looking through the window, a spoon in his hand and a cup in the other. Slowly, he was toying in his coffee with the spoon, his mind lost on the schedule of the day. The weather was nice and he hoped it would also be the case for Stormwind, as he might spend all day there, like usual. He sighed loudly and moved from the windows to prepare the table for breakfast. He quickly put on it, fruits, slices of bread, cheese and meat, along with water and milk and just waited until he heard the steps coming from the stairs.

“Mornin’ Jarod,” said the little boy, still half-asleep.

“Morning Khalari,” Jarod smiled back, inviting him to the table. “Slept well?”

“Yes, I think I reached the Emerald Dream,” he answered in all seriousness.

“I’m sure you did,” Jarod said, ruffling his hair.

Eight years had passed since Khalari was born and life was taking its course.

“After you ate, we’ll leave for your lesson,” told Jarod.

Khalari only nodded and quickly began to eat, impatient to leave the house for the day and go back to his druidism lesson and all of his friends. Jarod smiled sadly until the sound of a floor cracking from the weight above their head made him look up and frown. Frown that he quickly erased and looked back at his nephew who was now eating while preparing his lunch for the day. Jarod shook his head with another smile at how eager Khalari was for the lessons. Once the little boy was ready, they left the house and Jarod locked the door behind them.

They made their way through Dalaran to reach the portal to Stormwind, where the lessons were taking place. Like always, they walked in silence as it was still early and Jarod taught him to not bother their neighborhood in the morning. But that day, Khalari wanted to talk.

“Jarod,” he began, not talking too loudly. “When will dad be the one to bring me to the lesson? I didn’t see him in days.”

Jarod winced at those words.

“He’s…He’s busy,” could only answer Jarod as he felt the blood rushing to his head.

“I know,” replied Khalari, sadness tainting his voice.

Jarod finally unclutched his hand and tried to breathe calmly. He just couldn’t be angry in front of Khalari. The poor boy wouldn’t understand.

“I heard him getting out of his room last night,” admitted Khalari after a little silence. “I thought of leaving my own and go tell him “hi” but I didn’t know if it was the right time.”

Jarod took a deeper breath but felt his nails drawing blood onto his palm again. He finally knew what he was going to do of his day after dropping Khalari to his lessons.

“Don’t worry,” Jarod smiled at him, ruffling his hair once again. “It’s almost over.”

The little kid looked at him, raising an eyebrow as he didn’t understand what his uncle was meaning but quickly brushed it off as they finally reached the portal. He took the hand of the adult and together, they jumped into it. Their feet landed into the Mage’s Tower of Stormwind and Khalari quickly said hello to the usual mages wandering in the building. Jarod only hoped that spending the day away from Dalaran would distract him from the subject of his father. They made their way to the new Night Elf Sanctuary, next to the Stormwind’s Embassy and as soon as Khalari saw his teacher, he ran to him to salute him.

“Hello Shan’do Stormrage,” he said, bowing a little.

“Hello Khalari,” replied Malfurion with a smile. “You’re early today.”

“It’s Jarod’s fault,” giggled the kid, pointing at his uncle who was already making a sign of the hand to say hello to Malfurion.

“Alright. You can already join the other students, we’ll start when everyone is there,” added Malfurion.

Khalari quickly nodded and turned to Jarod, waving at him.

“Later Jarod!”

“Later Khalari,” replied the uncle.

And the boy left to join the other kids of his age. Meanwhile, Jarod reached Malfurion and leaned against the nearest tree, rubbing his face. The druid could only sigh at no words were needed, but he still had to get the confirmation.

“Any news?” he asked the other men.

“Still doesn’t leave his room, unless he knows he won’t meet Khalari or me, and it’s only to grab some food.”

The silence settled between them as Jarod really tried to calm himself.

“Eight years,” he finally said, bitterness all over his voice. “Eight fucking years since she died and I just want to throw up every time I have to refer to him as a “father”. He doesn’t deserve that title in the slightest and I have enough! I’m going to leave with Khalari and never go back. I’ve been nice enough with him!”

He took his face into his hands and Malfurion put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

“If I hadn’t been there, he wouldn’t even live in the same house as his child!”

Jarod was remembering too well the night when Maiev died. Earlier that day, he went to see the Wardens, in the hope to see his sister, and he learned about her and Illidan and also that she was pregnant. At first, he had been shocked and also offended that his own sister wouldn’t tell him first such things but then, a bad feeling took over him and he just felt that he had to find her. This was what he did. He reached Dalaran at night and at first, decided to wait for the morning to go and see her, but when he passed in front of their house and saw the door unlocked and half-open, he knew something was wrong. He jumped into the house and ran until he found Velen, a newborn in his arms, as sounds of someone trashing a room were coming from the door next to him. The sadness all over the Prophet’s face was enough for Jarod to know that something went really wrong.

Velen told him everything he knew and Jarod decided to stay. Khalari was his nephew after all.

“Khalari still doesn’t have the sense of the passing of time…” added Jarod in a whisper. “Earlier, he told me he hadn’t seen Illidan in days and I didn’t have the heart to tell him it was years that he hadn’t seen him. I don’t even know if he knows Khalari is taking lessons to become a druid.”

Malfurion only looked at the horizon where his students were taking advantage of his absence to play. Khalari amongst them.

“I understand completely if you decide to leave,” he told Jarod. “You could probably find a house here in Stormwind easily.”

“It’s in my plan.”

“Will you tell him?”

“Maybe if I run into him but otherwise, he doesn’t even deserve to know it. It’ll change nothing to his life right now.”

“Well, I think everyone is there now,” interrupted Malfurion. “I need to go and teach them. I’ll see you like usual at the end of the day.”

“Alright, see you later.”

Jarod put his hand on the doorknob and took a really deep breath. In the end, he decided to come back to Dalaran and either already pack his stuff for when he would move out, either confront Illidan and smash his head against the nearest wall. But he just couldn’t keep living in this situation. He was really loving Khalari and the child couldn’t be blamed for anything that happened, and this was why he was ready to take him with him and leave Illidan to rot in his own despair. For eight years, Jarod had tried everything to make Illidan come out of his room and take care of his child but as soon as Khalari began to grow and showed to have some similarities to Maiev, he locked himself and barely got out of the room anymore.

Finally, Jarod stepped inside the house and walked towards the kitchen, only to be welcomed by a sight he thought impossible. Illidan was sitting at the table, eating slowly. He was clearly underweight, almost all of his muscles had melted. His hair was now grey and his skin greyish. His tattoos weren’t bright anymore and his horns were cracked at someplace, it was almost a miracle that they were still on his head. As soon as Illidan realized Jarod was in the same room as him, he tried to get up and leave but Jarod was faster and grabbed his shoulder, forcing him to stay on the chair.

“Perfect timing,” Jarod said, his nails digging in the shoulder. “We need to talk seriously.”

“I’m listening,” could only say Illidan.

“You are probably one of the worst fathers I got to witness in my life, and believe me, I saw many and many bad fathers. More than you can imagine. But you…You!”

A laugh escaped his lips as he was finally able to tell everything he had on his heart.

“You let Maiev die and then what do you do? You just act as if she didn’t die giving birth to your son! You act as if he died with her that night! He could have ended with complete strangers if I hadn’t been there! Do you even realize that, thanks to me, you can see your child?! Unless you really wish him out of your miserable pathetic little life!”

Illidan jumped on his feet, imposing his size over Jarod as, even if he had lost a lot of weight, he was still taller than him.

“I just want to protect him! I killed Maiev and I don’t want to kill him too!”

The fist found his face and Illidan got thrown on the ground, a panting Jarod over him with his fist still closed and covered in the blood of the broken nose. Illidan only put a hand over his face to realize it was indeed his own blood.

“I won’t deny you have a part of responsibilities in her death,” panted Jarod, tears in his eyes. “But what would have you done?! If you knew you were killing her, you would have left her alone too?! To suffer on her own after promising her to love her?! Would you have hidden until it would be over?!”

“No! I would have done anything to save her!”

This time, he got kicked in the ribs and he could only groan. Fighting back wasn’t even a possibility as he had no strength anymore.

“How it is different?! Why hiding from Khalari will save him? It’s just going to destroy him emotionally! He knows you exist and that you are his father! He just wants to know you but you reject him constantly! He doesn’t need to be saved! As much as I hate to admit it, he’s a demon like you and he’s probably stronger than anyone else. This isn’t what will kill him so your explanation that you don’t want him to die like Maiev is bullshit!”

He grabbed Illidan by the throat, forcing him to look at him, face to face.

“Listen well. You have one week. One! After this week, if you didn’t make any progress as a real father, I leave and I take Khalari with me. You will never see us again and I’ll finally let you die like the pathetic sack of shit you are. I shouldn’t even give you this chance but I still do it for Khalari, because even if I can’t understand why, he seems to still love you.”

Illidan could only groan. No matter how he tried to get Jarod’s hand off him, he couldn’t and on the moment, he wondered why the elf wasn’t killing him right now if he was hating him so much. But the answer was simple. He wasn’t doing it just for Khalari.

Jarod finally let go and Illidan almost coughed his lungs out as he was massaging his throat. Meanwhile, Jarod decided he saw Illidan enough for the day and that leaving the house was still the best option at the moment. At worst, he would spend the rest of the day wandering in Stormwind before picking up Khalari from the druidic lesson.

Still laying on the floor of the kitchen, Illidan took his face between his hands and let his body cry for him. He was loving his son and only wanted to protect him, to make sure he wouldn’t die like Maiev but he had no idea which way was the best. Does getting completely out of his life would ensure him a better life? But as he thought it, he heard that little voice, deep inside his mind, talking with Maiev’s voice, telling him that he shouldn’t give up on his – their – son.

“And after that, Nya tried to transform into a cat but she could only transform one of her hand. So, she ended up with a paw and began to panic until Shan’do Stormrage succeeded to calm her down and help her back to her Tauren’s hand,” explained Khalari with a really serious tone.

Jarod laughed a little but had to interrupt him before he was starting to speak about another wacky adventure he experienced in his class as they were finally in front of their home.

“Keep some for the dinner,” Jarod told him as he opened the door.

The memories of the afternoon were still vivid in his mind and he realized that he might have been a little too far with how he handled Illidan but at the same time, he never felt that good before. Of course, it wasn’t meaning he would beat up Illidan every time he would become angry but at the same time, he knew it was probably the last time he was seeing him. He just couldn’t imagine him being able to finally move on from Maiev’s death and leaving was really the best option.

Khalari entered first, almost running in the house to go and put back his stuff in his room and Jarod just smiled as he saw the little wings on his back flapping. Even if he still hadn’t found how to fly, Jarod knew he would have to reinforce the rules in the house to avoid any involuntary destruction from his part. The smile faded as he looked up, wondering if Illidan would only be still alive after their confrontation. Jarod really needed a break from this life.

“Dad!” he heard Khalari scream with joy.

In a matter of seconds, Jarod was back in the kitchen and saw Illidan, Khalari already in his arms, ruffling his hair.

“Hey,” he said back. “How was your day?”

And Khalari began to tell him everything, not leaving a single detail out.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed it !  
> Tomorrow: A break from angst with another requested fic!
> 
> See you tomorrow and every day until Christmas with a new fic !
> 
> \----  
> If you just want to talk about WoW, my fics, someone else fics or anything, you can still hit me up on Tumblr!
> 
> https://thewritingof-therose.tumblr.com/
> 
> or on Discord
> 
> The_Rose#2429 (My personal one)  
> https://discord.gg/nvKggwc (An Illidan/Maiev Discord. Everyone welcome here! (Please tell me if the link doesn't work))
> 
> Later!


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